Monthly Archives - November 2013

underground / subway / metro / tube
A city’s underground railway/railroad system is usually called the underground (often the Underground) in British English and the subway in North American English. Speakers of British English also use subway for systems in American cities and metro for systems in other European countries. The Metro is the name for the systems in Paris and Washington, D.C. London’s system is often called the Tube.

You use holiday (or holidays) in British English and vacation in North American English to describe the regular periods of time when you are not at work or school, or time that you spend travelling or resting away from home:
I get two weeks’ holiday/vacation a year.
He’s on holiday/vacation next week.
I like to take my holiday/vacation in the summer.
the summer holidays/vacation
the summer holidays/vacation
In North American English a holiday (or a public holiday) is a single day when government offices, schools, banks and businesses are closed. In British English it is called a bank holiday:
The school will be closed Monday because it’s a holiday.